


Buried Secrets

by troublesomedragon



Series: Castiel's Extended Family [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV), Supernatural
Genre: But Dean doesn't make an appearance, Destiel - Freeform, Lucifer and Castiel have a talk about the Profound Bond, M/M, brief mentions of Deckerstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28689684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troublesomedragon/pseuds/troublesomedragon
Summary: In which Lucifer gives Castiel terrible advice and this leads to the devil getting punched in the face several thousand years later
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Castiel's Extended Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142759
Comments: 1
Kudos: 90





	1. Older Brothers Are Truly Wise

_Older Brothers Are Truly Wise_

As soon as he steps out of the portal, he kicks himself for having no real plan. This is a terrible idea in every sense of the word. He knows nothing of this world’s rules or the possible evil lurking within. Hell, he’s not even sure which sibling he is looking for. All he really knows is that one of his brother’s is in love with a human and that human loves him back, and he has a vested interest in finding out how it’s going. He licks his lips, thinking of Dean . . . if it’s worth it. 

The place is classy, modern and sleek with traces of ancient architecture thrown in. He mentally calculates which brother he’s dealing with, but there’s something about the soft subdued light that makes his stomach twist in recognition. He ignores his intuition even as the copious amount of alcohol and grand piano seems to confirm it. If he truly is in the home of the once glorious Morning Star, he knows he is doomed, knows where rebellion leads. 

The elevator door opens, and he swallows nervously. His every instinct is telling him to tear open space and time and fly home. He notes the easy smile on his brother’s face and dares hope that he has not crossed several dimensions and ignored protocol for nothing. The easy smile leaves immediately when he sees him, and for a second, he is apprehensive, assessing if he is a threat. He can’t help but be reminded of himself every time Heaven makes a house call to Earth. Castiel continues to stare at this odd version of Lucifer who reminds him more of Michael than the brother he’d once known. They certainly had similar tastes in fashion. Standing his ground turns out to be the right call, Lucifer’s eyes light up in recognition and any and all suspicion melts away.

“Well, this is a surprise. What brings you to my little corner of the universe, Cassie?”

Castiel wonders what gave him away. He half expected to have to justify his presence, but perhaps, this version of his brother is used to dimensional interlopers breaking into his home. 

“I have a problem.” He immediately frowns. It doesn’t feel right to call Dean a problem, but he is unsure how else to get his point across. 

Lucifer raises an eyebrow, intrigued. The first thing he does is offer him a drink. Castiel gladly takes it and downs the thing in one go. He almost wishes it had any effect at all on him.

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense. What kind of problem requires you to travel to an entirely different universe? ”

“The kind that makes you fall.”

The warm expression on Lucifer’s face grows cold. Castiel has always been far too blunt. Lucifer takes a sip of his drink and looks away as he closes himself off. 

“I see. Came to see an expert did you?” He sets the drink down and walks away from him. Castiel knows he’s seconds away from being dismissed and decides to plead his case as quickly as possible. He will not leave empty handed, not when so much is at stake. 

“Not exactly, I’ve fallen in love . . . with a human. I heard the same had happened to you,” Castiel admits, deciding to leave out the fact that he wouldn’t have bothered to come if he’d know it was Lucifer of all his brothers that had fallen in love with a human. 

Just another form of rebellion for him probably, perhaps, his fondness for his human is greatly exaggerated, more of Lucifer lusting for life than humanity. He’s always been fond of Earth. It was only a matter of time before some of that fondness extended to its inhabitants. 

He was hoping his honesty would put Lucifer at ease. If anything, once he’s aware of the reason for his visit, Lucifer grows colder. He takes a breath, silently calculating. Castiel automatically tenses, weary of his brother’s silver tongue. Finally, he seems to relax, settling on a strategy. 

“Oh yes . . . that. I’m afraid the ship didn’t exactly set sail for reasons I’d rather not get into.”

He doesn’t say anything more. Castiel lowers his eyes, allowing some of his disappointment to show as something in him cracks. It really is hopeless then. If the once great Morningstar could not do the impossible, how could a simple soldier even dare to think he could do the same, especially with the most important soul in the universe: the Righteous Man, Michael’s sword, the man he marked with his very own grace. 

Castiel tenses when he feels Lucifer’s hand on his shoulder. He looks up and is surprised by what he finds. His brother actually looks worried for him, sympathetic, as if recognizing something of himself in Cas. He stiffens further at that realization. Is Lucifer what his family sees every time they level scorn on him? Is the doubt he is beginning to feel just a symptom of something that was always underneath? 

“I still want to help you, Cassie. Tell me about them,” he says, gesturing for him to sit.

He nods, willing himself to relax and sit down. A decision still needs to be made, and Lucifer is still his best source of counsel on this matter, regardless of the end result of his relationship.

“He is the Righteous Man. My garrison was in charge of retrieving him from the throws of Hell. I gripped him tight and raised him from perdition, and I’ve known no peace since.”

Castiel doesn’t give him any further details. He’s not sure if it's out of caution or embarrassment. The fact is that Castiel and Dean’s profound bond has become quite the scandal in Heaven. He deliberately marked a vessel meant for another, went on to proudly display the size of his wings in a subconscious attempt to woo said vessel, and for all intents and purposes, has been at the beck and call of the Righteous Man since he freed him from Hell. It doesn’t help that Dean seems to actively detest Michael and has foolishly dubbed him Cas, actively removing any association with his Father from his name. As far as Heaven is concerned, Dean has claimed him right back. 

Lucifer’s mood has soured once again and only grows worse, the more he hears about Dean. There’s an intensity in his eyes as he grips his hand as if he too wishes to free Castiel from his current Hell. 

“Let me save you a lot of trouble. This is clearly a trap from Father designed to set you up with this Righteous Man. Your relationship is doomed to failure. Don’t even bother pursuing it. You’ll just end up hurting each other,” He says with a note of finality. 

Castiel grimaces. It’s not what he wants to hear, but he senses the sincerity of his brother’s words. He is clearly speaking from personal experience. And yet, he is unclear as to why his Father would deliberately set him up for failure. Then, he realizes; why of all the angels that could have saved Dean, he was chosen. He is loyal, disciplined, and trustworthy. No matter how blindingly beautiful Dean’s once broken soul is to him, like a piece of Kintsugi pottery laced with his grace, he will not fail Dean. 

“I see. So you’re saying this is a test of faith from Father. A temptation I must reject wholly in order to stay under the holy light of God. I may have recreated Dean atom by atom, but you’re right if he was meant to be Michael’s vessel. I must stand aside and offer him what help I can until that day comes, ” he decides finally, and it’s as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. 

Castiel was right to come here. His older brother is truly wise. Despite this, Lucifer seems alarmed by his conclusion, desperately grabbing hold of his arm.

“Wait, you fell in love with Michael’s sword. I don’t believe Father would, and I never said-” he said, more flustered than he’s ever seen him in any universe. He seems truly baffled by Castiel’s decision.

Castiel smiles, patting Lucifer’s shoulder twice in an effort to comfort him. It has little effect. He doesn’t mind that his older brother is uncertain of his path as long as Castiel is sure. Cas will not waver from his chosen path, no matter how he may end up suffering from it. 

“Thank you so much for your help Lucifer. I will not forget this,” he promises, leaving in a flash of blinding light. 

Lucifer is left staggering, full of guilt and self loathing. He has no way of reaching Castiel and setting him straight- erm right about what he meant. Even at height of Amenadiel powers, he did not have the strength to hop dimensions. He winces, finally thinking of Mum. They could have used a dimension hopping Angel to get her somewhere safe. He sighs, dismissing it. No sense crying over spilled Vodka. 

Lucifer pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a huff.

“I’ve never shoved someone further into the closet before. That’s a first.”

He pours himself another drink. Mind mulling over what little information Castiel had offered on his paramour. If this Righteous Man truly is Michael’s sword, his Father couldn’t be behind the two of them meeting. He smirks, if anything should the two get together, it would completely upend that version of Father’s plans, possibly permanently. He sighs again, thinking of Chloe. Why couldn’t he stay away? Was she really a golden chain designed to wrap around him and rob him of his power? Or was this Dear Old Dad’s idea of a joke? She’s everything you ever wanted, and I made her for you. He chucks the empty glass on the floor in frustration. 

Lucifer spends the next hour on the piano, thinking of his baby brother, Father, and most of all Chloe. The music channels his anger, twisting it into each musical note until he is left empty. He finally stops and eyes the broken glass on the floor. He could wait and have his cleaning service take care of it, but Chloe had finally agreed to see him after his little freak out move to Vegas, and he didn’t want her stepping on it accidentally. He goes to grab a broom, knowing he’s well and truly fucked. 


	2. Little Brothers Never Listen Do They?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lucifer and Castiel are both idiots that mean well

_Little Brothers Never Listen Do They?_

Lucifer has had a very bad no good day. Chloe finally knows what she was created to be and has decided her life is a lie, and there doesn’t seem to be anything he can do to change her mind. That knowledge won’t stop him though. Game night is in a few days, and the Detective never misses that. Surely, she’ll realize by then that being a Gift from God doesn’t change anything between them. Yeah, when he first found out, he completely moved house and ran away, but the Detective is a rational creature. She’ll eventually want to talk. He just needs to be patient, and in the meanwhile, he's going to be his best charming self. So what if he’s a few thousand years out of practice, Lucifer is nothing if not stubborn, and he knows what he has with Chloe is real, despite his Father willing her into creation in the first place. For the first time in a millennia, he thinks of Castiel and hopes the poor misguided bastard is doing better than he is with his celestially acquired bae. 

The elevator doors open, and he’s immediately sucker punched in the face by said angel. On second thought, maybe, he doesn’t. 

“Hey, Assbutt, you give shit advice.”

Lucifer laughs in spite of himself. Well, if this isn’t the cherry on top of his miserable day, he supposed he had that coming for projecting his own issues onto Castiel’s relationship in the first place. He’s wearing the same tan trench coat, but it's wrinkled and well worn. Hell, even the suit is the same, Lucifer’s first instinct is to offer him a better suit from his extended collection so he’ll at least have options, but the open fury on Castiel’s face makes him think better of it. 

The years have changed his little brother. He’s not the quiet disciplined little thing he was trained to be anymore, and part of him is proud of how freely he’s expressing himself and the other part is annoyed that his anger is being directed at him. It’s not even his Cassie. His little sister is currently somewhere in Hawaii wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt with her equally dorky significant other drinking a Mai Tai. 

“Nice to see you too Cassie, but I’m kind of in the middle of an evil twin situation here, and I’m not really in the mood to discuss your love life. I trust whatever it is can wait till morning.” 

He desperately needs a drink. Castiel immediately smashes the bottle he reaches for. Lucifer scowls, glad he didn’t go for something more expensive. He’s already had to go through one too many brawls today. At least, Castiel has an understandable reason to be cross with him. He still gets a headache every time he tries to figure out why Michael would even want to manipulate him for his entire existence. 

“I should have told him sooner. And, now, he’s- I wasn’t ready for him to die so soon. What do I do now?” he says helplessly, sitting on the couch as his anger morphs into full blown panic.

Lucifer gives up on procuring alcohol and joins Castiel on the couch, feeling a pinprick of guilt. He’d assumed that the angel would either get over his crush or tell the guy before he was buried six feet under. Leave it to Cassie to take his word as law. The little one was always too serious for his own good. 

“What happened?” 

His little brother takes a deep shuddering breath and proceeds to spill his guts for the next two hours. Even though he’s told an extremely condensed version of events, he’s amazed that his brother is still in one piece, although admittedly, he’d died a worrying amount of times. That’s not why Castiel is here though, and he realizes rather quickly that situation is not what he thought. No, if anything, Castiel wants to vent, and he was the easiest target for his anger, well, after the vampires that have definitely been vaporized by holy light by now. 

“Took you twelve years, really? And, he dumped you for pie,” Lucifer says in disbelief. 

Castiel is immediately on the defensive.

“The pie eating contest was one day only, and Dean’s way of grieving is . . . strange.”

If his little brother hadn’t taken a painstaking amount of time singing Dean’s praises and gushing about his brilliant perfect little soul, he would have flat out told him that the idiot lumberjack wasn’t worth it. As it stood, he’d interfered enough, and any partner that would take on Dear Old Dad when he was clearly in the wrong was a good egg in his book. 

“Stop changing the subject, this is all your fault,” Castiel snaps, once again confiscating his alcohol and taking a swig. He is actually starting to look tipsy. That's new. 

Lucifer laughs good naturedly, more than used to being blamed for things that were definitely not his fault. In this case, he’ll go easy on the guy. 

“My fault? I haven’t seen you in thousands of years.”

That gets his attention. He stands up straighter, looking a little guilty himself. 

“You’ve been in hell all this time?”

Lucifer smirks, taking the opportunity to finally get some alcohol in his system. If he had his way, he would be good and smashed already. 

“Not all of it, no, Michael’s sudden appearance has recently forced me to come back and set things right. You’re lucky I was even here to get punched in the face.”

Castiel looks down, rubbing his neck. 

“Sorry, I overreacted. Thank you for not stabbing me for my insolence.”

Lucifer pours himself yet another drink and tries not to think of Uriel. The best he can do is help the family he has left. He supposes this interdimensional version of Cassie counts. 

“I must admit that my advice may have been colored by recent events I was experiencing at the time, but you’re the one that decided that God wanted you apart. I was merely suggesting that Father was literally dropping the righteous man at your feet for a cosmic hook up,” he explains, more than happy to clear things up even if it was twelve years too late to make much of a difference. 

Castiel actually blushes and hides his face in his hands as if Lucifer has shattered his entire world view. The idea has apparently never crossed his mind despite Father literally being a writer in their universe. 

“Oh, I’m an idiot,” he says, absolutely mortified. 

“Well, if it helps, so, am I. We’ve both been keeping secrets for far too long,” he says, choosing to keep his words vague. He doesn't want to burden his little brother with his soap opera of a life, not when he has a Righteous Man to sweep off his feet. 

“I need to see, Dean,” he says, slamming his shot glass onto the table and abruptly getting up.

"That’s the spirit. Go get your pie loving simpleton, and if he decides to give Earth another spin, tell him to get a tetanus shot for Dad’s sake.”

“I don’t think Father would care. We stripped him of his power and doomed him to die of old age,” Castiel says bluntly, taking what he said at face value.

Lucifer tries not to snicker. 

“That’s certainly a poetic end for him. Good luck wooing your Lumberjack,” he says, raising a glass.

Castiel is more than a little drunk and stumbles as he turns to face him, strangely offended.

“I have dragged him out of Hell and remade him atom by atom. I have marked him with my Grace and have answered his prayers time and again. I have fought civil wars in his name and given up armies for his sake. We have raised a child together. He is good and wooed.” 

Castiel then has the audacity to hiccup.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to wait until you are less inebriated?” he asks, knowing full well that there is no stopping his little brother at this point. 

“I’ve waited long enough. Now, if you excuse me, I should go back before Dean impales himself on something else.”

Something tells him his little brother is still a little salty about that. 

Castiel reveals his dark shimmering wings and disappears with a whoosh, and Lucifer decides he is not drunk enough for the day he's had. When Amenadiel finds a black feather in the morning and asks if Cassie has stopped by, he can honestly answer yes as long as his brother doesn't pry further. Thankfully, he doesn't. The Detective would call it a lie by omission, but he doesn't believe in those. Besides, he would let Amenadiel in on their little brother’s interdimensional love life once Castiel reunites with his Righteous Man, and he gets the juicy details. Something tells him that his brother’s next visit won't take nearly as long as the last. 


End file.
